São Paulo – The United Arab Emirates remain the leading target of Brazilian cooperatives’ exports. According to information released this Thursday (23rd) by the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, cooperatives sold the equivalent of US$ 216.5 million to the Arab country in the first four months of 2013, amounting to 11.8% of total exports. The Emirates is followed by the United States, China, Germany and Japan.
Cooperatives sold to 124 countries during the four-month period. Total export revenues stood at US$ 1.838 billion, up 9.8% from the first four months last year. The amount is the highest for the period ever since records started being kept, in 2007, according to the ministry. Cooperatives’ revenues accounted for 2.6% of total Brazilian export revenues.
The main items exported by cooperatives from January through April were refined sugar (25.5% of total exports), poultry (11.5%), raw sugar (10.8%), coffee bean (10.8%) and ethanol (8.3%). Brazilian cooperatives are mostly active in agriculture and livestock.
According to the ministry, sales of maize, refined sugar, ethanol, peanuts and fertilizers have increased significantly.
Cooperatives’ products were shipped from 19 different states. The top-selling state was São Paulo, followed by Paraná, Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina and Mato Grosso. According to the ministry, 108 cooperatives sold products to foreign countries during the period.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
